


Someday

by Beth Harker (Beth_Harker)



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Fluff, M/M, One Shot, many years post canon, they are adults
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-01 20:43:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20264233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beth_Harker/pseuds/Beth%20Harker
Summary: Jeremy and Michael get a dog and discuss plans to get married.





	Someday

On Sunday morning, Michael and Jeremy load up the black seat of Michael’s car with a medium sized pet carrier, a collar, a leash, and a bag of dog treats— everything that they’ll need for their new arrival, or at least they hope so. Jeremy checks four times to be sure that they haven't forgotten anything, and frets about the size of the carrier. What if it's too small? What if it's too oppressive? What if the dog bed, lovingly placed inside it, isn’t soft enough? What if they choose a pet who is afraid of cars, and start out a relationship that's meant to last a decade or more by traumatizing the poor thing?

“First off,” Michael says, hands on the steering wheel, “our carrier is the right size for a pet that’ll be the right size for our apartment.” 

“Who’s to say we won't see an enormous dog and fall in love with it?” 

“Oh, we’re totes going fall in love with some big ass dogs,” Michael agrees. “But we’ll fall in love with the smallish ones too. We’re human beings with free will. We get to make decisions about shit.”

Jeremy gives Michael a small smile. Outside the scenery rushes past. ‘We’re human beings with free will,’ is a sentence that he's used on Michael a lot, and it all stems from those periods of time when the defunct technology in his brain has called Jeremy’s free will into question. A lot of Jeremy’s more questionable decisions have been explained by reminding himself and others that he's a person with the right to make choices. If he wants to piss his Squip off by having two day old leftover pizza for breakfast, or wearing an ugly Hanukkah sweater the middle of September, his status as a genuine, bleeding, breathing lump of homo sapien flesh gives him permission to do that. 

“I saw online that the shelter had mini horses,” Jeremy says. 

“Okay. I'm going to need at least five of those.” 

“They only have two.” 

“Perfect, I bet we could squeeze them into our carrier if we try hard and believe in ourselves.” 

The rest of the ride passes in inane chatter, the kind that's warm and fun. They pull into the animal shelter driveway, and get out of the car. 

“What if we find the perfect dog, but they reject our application?” Jeremy asks. 

“We’re probably the cutest gay couple to come in all week. They won't reject us.” 

“They could.” 

“Who could say no to this face?” Michael gives Jeremy an exaggerated pout. Before Jeremy can think of a snappy comeback, Michael half hugs half tackles him, planting a sloppy kiss on his cheek. 

“Ugh…” 

“C’mon Jer. We’re getting a dog. That’ll amp the slobber factor up to at least ten.” 

“A dog’s not a human being with…” 

“Free will?” 

“I mean, I guess they do kinda have it?” 

“Slobber’s in their nature. Mine too.” 

“Only when you’re trying to annoy me,” says Jeremy. He isn't the least bit annoyed. 

———————— 

The dog, in theory, is meant to be an anniversary gift of sorts. That's what Michael keeps saying about it. The problem is that both Jeremy and Michael suck at dates, so neither of them can make big deals of anything less obvious than their own birthdays. When Jeremy thinks of important things that have happened between him and Michael, the best he can come up with is a nebulous assortment of months and seasons. 

He and Michael met in preschool, so in September probably, based on when schools tend to start up. 

They dated for the first time right at the end of junior year, when the dust from the Squip incident was still settling. 

They went to university together towards the end of an August, and Jeremy dropped out in December, seriously screwing Michael and his relationship over for a while. Needless to say, they'd broken up, but there was no consensus on when they'd made that official. 

Moving in together was a thing that happened during another September four years later. Deciding to date again had been a December event. 

Michael and Jeremy have stayed together for nearly five years now, not counting their first failed attempt at romance, or the thing where they've known each other since infancy. It's April, so the chances that today truly corresponds with an important date from their past is slim, but the sentiment is there.

“What is this the anniversary of again?” Jeremy asks.

“Well, it's gonna be the anniversary of the day we get a dog,” Michael answers. 

“It is! That makes a lot of sense, actually.” 

According to the animal shelter website, there are currently eighty-something dogs up for adoption. That means a lot of smell, a lot of noise, and a lot of cuteness in the dog room. Micheal gravitates towards puppies and dogs with big soulful eyes. Jeremy gravitates towards dogs that are ugly. He's just like that. He's the kind of person who buys misshapen fruit at the supermarket, not only because he feels bad for it, but because he can imagine an alternate universe where that fruit is accosted by semi-hallucinatory techno fruit that berates it for its every flaw. 

Eventually, Michael and Jeremy end up sitting on the floor a visiting room of sorts. Michael’s got a lap full of fluffy black puppies, and Jeremy’s got an off-white poodle with an overbite and yellow stains around its eyes. Its name, according to the shelter staff, is Cynthia.

“I think she likes me,” Jeremy says of the Cynthia, who is sitting apathetically besides him. 

“She adores you.”

“But you want one of the puppies, right?” 

“Nah man. Our girl Cynth is totally coming home with us. Just don't tell anybody yet, right? I'm not gonna pass up the chance to be covered in puppies for as long as they’ll let me.” 

Jeremy grins, and pats the floor in front of him. Two of the puppies race over. Cynth blinks at them, and lies down. 

“She's gentle,” says Michael. “I can tell. She doesn't growl at the puppies or anything. That, my friend, is a dog with a good soul.” 

“She’s _our_ dog with a good soul.

“She’s ours.” 

———————

Jeremy and Michael have to fill out some forms, and have an adoption interview with one of the shelter staff. They show her pictures of their apartment, and all the goodies and toys that await Cynthia upon arrival. They explain their work schedules, and who will be around to take her for walks. They discuss money, and their plans to give Cynthia a forever home. 

“Where will Cynthia go if the two of you break up?” asks the shelter lady. 

It catches Jeremy off guard. “We won't,” he says quickly. 

“We’re supposed to ask that. Are you two married?” 

Jeremy rubs the back of his neck. “I mean… no? But, like, practically?” 

“If the two of you break up, where will the dog go?” the shelter lady repeats. 

“We’re engaged,” says Michael. 

“We are?” 

“Do we have to be?” Michael asks the shelter lady. “Or we could go to town hall, get married, come back, and…” 

Jeremy shifts in his seat. His eyes have got to be huge right now. 

“We just need a guarantee that one of you will take the dog,” the shelter lady says. 

“Yes!” Jeremy and Michael say in unison. 

“Well… great!” the shelter lady chirps, glancing from Michael to Jeremy, perhaps having sensed the charged atmosphere in the room. “We have a few more papers for you to sign, and it’ll be a seventh dollar adoption fee…” 

Jeremy’s hand is shaky to the point of being nearly illegible, but Michael puts an arm around his shoulder, leaning in to make sure he doesn't miss any important signatures. A few minutes later, and Jeremy’s heart is pounding and his hands are kinda numb, but the shelter lady is putting a leash in them. 

Jeremy leans down to hug Cynthia, planting his hot face in her fur. He decides that the way his heart is racing is a _good_ kind of racing. The shakiness that's overcome him is a good kind of shakiness. It's like the excitement that comes before getting on an airplane to embark on a long awaited trip— totally overwhelming, but sort of sacred at the same time.

——————

“Soooo,” Michael says, once they’re back in the car, Cynthia in tow. “The thing where I was getting ready to straight up marry you on the fly… that was kinda a lot, I guess. Are you, like…” Michael takes a heavy breath, drumming his hands against the steering wheel. 

“Did you mean that you actually wanted to…?” 

“Someday. Definitely.” 

“Like someday as in probably not, or someday as in…” 

“Someday as in definitely! I guess I'd like to put more thought into the proposal than i just did. Make it nice or whatever.” 

“I'd like that,” Jeremy says. 

“It's gonna be epic,” Michael promises. 

“You know what my answer will be.”

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic of] Someday](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20811791) by [carboncopies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/carboncopies/pseuds/carboncopies), [klb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/klb/pseuds/klb), [reena_jenkins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/reena_jenkins/pseuds/reena_jenkins)


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